LETTER FROM DOWNTOWN while he may have managed to will him- self out of the drag ghetto, he hasn't en- tirely eluded issues of sexuality and of race. RuPaul is no Muppet or Bow. He is not, for that matter, Flip Wilson's Geraldine. No amount of celebrity can obscure the contradictions of a black man achieving success by dressing as a woman, and not just any kind of woman but a blonde. "I'm aware of all that," he tells me now, in the studio, as Kupper prepares to remix RuPaul's next song, "House of Love." "I'm black, male, at the bottom of the social heap," he says. "I'm castrated in drag. But I'm also freed. There's a sort of cultural Judgment Day going on. Everybody's been forced to come out of the closet, in all kinds of ways, not just sexually. And when they get out I'm here to tell them, 'Smile, laugh, welcome to the party!' I preach, honey. I'm the first Number One drag-queen preacher. I don't know how the Pat Buchanans of the world will take me, but what's im- portant is that I'm out there. Every time I bat my eyelashes, it's a political act." " I T'S the armed guard of the drag revo- lution," Lady Bunny purrs at seven o'clock one snapping-cold morning. Bunny has just arrived for a taping of "The Joan Rivers Show" at the CBS studios, on West Fifty-seventh Street. The President of Turkey is being inter- viewed, in a separate studio; conse- quently, the sidewalks west of Tenth Avenue are thick with security men wearing earpieces and dark suits. The theme of the Rivers show is "Men Who've Become Superstars as Women," and the guests will include-besides Lady Bunny-the lip-synching drag queen Lypsinka, the performance artist Joey Arias, a personality known as Miss Guy, the Warhol star Holly Woodlawn, and RuPaul. In a fourth-floor dressing room, Lady Bunny, standing wigless in full makeup, and wearing bluejeans and black Dr. Martens shoes, looks like a cross-dressing nerd. Other people sit in barber chairs awaiting transformation. Joey Arias outlines his thin lips with black pencil, fills them in, and then abruptly strips off his torn T-shirt to re- veal a muscwar chest and two chrome nipple rings. In the far corner, Miss Guy bends over as a hairdresser back-combs his mane. The hairdresser, who's wear- ing a pants suit and very tall platform 53 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY SUMMER SESSION 1993 ONE-WEEK COURSES TRAVELS IN THE ANCIENT WORLD: THE ODYSSEY AND BEYOND Suzanne Said May 24-28 THE NEW YORK OF WALT WHITMAN AND HERMAN MELVILLE James Shenton June 21-25 CULTURE AND IMPERIALISM: INDIA THROUGH WESTERN EYES Robin Lewis July 12-16 FIVE SHORT WORKS BY DOSTOEVSKY Robert Belknap July 19-23 Classes meet Monday through Friday from 6-8:30 p.m. Courses are open to the gen- eral public as well as teachers profession- als, advanced undergraduates, and gradu- ate students. For information about these and other Summer Session 1993 courses, please return the coupon below or call (212) 854-5109 Summer Session Office, 303 Lewisohn, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027 Telephone: (212) 854-5109. Please send a Summer Session 1993 bulletin and application form to: NAME: ADDRESS: CITY: STATE: ZIP: COlumbia University is an affirmative action/equal opportunity institution KER "If you like music, you must h . h ." get t IS mac me. }ohnC.Rakedes,Salisbury,MD One button operation 1 t of CD player _____ ::::w:= ' --- ! ! - Only one p,lug; no -. .' '.: - . t tangle of Wires p '" y',:.:;:"-- Easy VCR hook up fo ., . :: movie theater sound -- Lifelike music reproduc &, tion from FM. Clear news, sports, or talk programs from AM :-:.. ""; :.: 7 Sound comparable ..fid.. to much larger, more complicated stereos Small enough to fit on an end table .... . .:.: . ,., :.:: :iÙÙi::.t: :: < :.".:. <"" . e.", The Bose Acoustic Wave music system "You have to hear it to believe it" Enjoy music more with the award..winnlng Acoustic Wave music system.> It sounds like those big, expensive stereos, according to experts. It's available by calling or writing Bose Corporation today. Find out more with this FREE booklet. 1 Write or call toll-free 1-800-282-BOSE Ext. 1732 -BIISE: Better sound through research", Name 1732 Street City State Zip Phone ( Mail to: Bose Corporation, Dept. COD, The Mountain, Framingham, MA 01701-9168 ( 193 Bose Corporanon